1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to display control apparatuses, systems, and display control methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, multi-display capabilities have been well known. With the multi-display capabilities, a set of computer is capable of operating multiple display devices. The multi-display capabilities allow viewing multiple kinds of information for the purpose of improving working efficiency or facilitating decision-making. “ePic” is mentioned as an example of realizing the multi-display capabilities. ePic, having been developed b yFXPAL (Fuji Xerox Palo Alto Laboratory), is an integrated presentation authoring and playback system that makes it easy to use a wide range of devices installed in one or multiple multimedia venues. A set of computer is capable of controlling multiple display devices by sending commands to personal computers (PC) connected via network. Also, RealMulti, having been developed by Project i Co., Ltd., includes the capabilities of controlling a server connected to multiple display devices via the network.
The above-described techniques can be controlled via the network, enabling remote multi-display capabilities. By a combination with a teleconference system or the like, the advantage of the multi-display capabilities can be utilized in communicating with people in remote locations.
There have been proposed conventional techniques relating to the multiple display devices and the video conference equipment in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-87758 (hereinafter, referred to as Document 1) and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-154116 (hereinafter, referred to as Document 2). Document 1 discloses the technique for recording still images displayed on the multiple display devices in synchronization with moving images and sound, although the still images are respectively displayed as single images, and then reproducing the still images respectively displayed on the multiple display devices in synchronization with the moving images and sound. Document 2 discloses the technique for learning the images being respectively displayed in two remote sites during the teleconference and then understanding the targets being pointed by cursors on terminal computers at the other ends.
While communication is being held between remote sites, however, if the sites are different in the configuration of the display devices, for example, if the numbers of the display devices are different, it is impossible to correspond the document being displayed at a speaker's end and the document being displayed at an audience's end on one-on-one basis. This causes the problem in that the documents cannot be assigned to the display device appropriately. In the technique disclosed in Document 1, the documents being displayed on all the display devices are put into a single image, yet leading to degradation of visibility.
If the sites are different in the positional relationship of the display configuration and display devices, it is not appropriate to instruct the positional relationship by mentioning, “right” or “left” verbally. Therefore, there is the problem in that viewers do not know which display device they should look at. In the technique disclosed in Document 2, the cursor is shared by the teleconferencing terminals to learn the positions pointed by the cursors on the terminals at the other ends. However, if the numbers of the display devices are different between the sites, the problem that the viewers do not know which display device they should look at cannot be solved.